Indiana State Rep illegally raising funds to attack a Dem Mayor's govt reform plan?
Background:
~30 years ago, Then mayor Dick Lugar pushed a plan to unify Indianapolis and Marion County under a "UniGov" that made Indianapolis and Marion County one. Things not united included school districts, fire and police departments and township govt. He said at the time something like UniGov would give the GOP a stronghold in Indy for 30 years. He was right almost to the year.
Indianapolis is becoming solid blue. We control the county at every level except the Superior Court judges and that should be in our hands by '08. '04 was a banner year for the Marion County Democratic Party (a bright spot in IN in a very bad year) So the Marion County GOP is getting a scared and doing what they can to knock Mayor Peterson (D) down on anything he wants to do as well as doing power grabs in the county, including trying to make Superior Court judges in Marion County only appointed by the governor, fighting the Mayor's plans to keep the Colts (NFL team) in town, and most of all fighting the Indianapolis Works plan.
The good stuff below the fold
Indianapolis Works is a plan to continue the unification of Marion County and Indianapolis government with big savings to city government. This would unite the Police and Fire Departments as well as eliminate many redundant township governments. (school districts will still remain separated) Indianapolis is under some VERY tough budget squeezes and if money isn't saved this way essential services are going to start being cut.
All of this is being proposed with NO cuts to Police or Fire Department staffing (one of the intiial worries of the plan). The Indianapolis Works website is located here: http://www.indianapolisworks.com
Enter State Rep. Mike Murphy (R-Indianapolis), also the chairman of the Marion County GOP. He was the one that introduced the bill to change Marion County judges to appointments by the governor instead of elected (thankfully stopped, this session). Now he's fighting Indy Works.
How? By leading a group called "Taxpayers 4 Truth" that is trying to discredit the plan.
What's the catch?
Indiana legislators are barred from raising money during a legislative session unless it is for two very specific cases, none of which cover the "T4T" group.
The Chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party (someone I'm uneasy about given his Bayh-like tendencies, but he's doing good here) sent a letter to the Indiana Secretary of State asking for an investigation.
March 31, 2005
The Honorable Todd Rokita
Secretary of State of Indiana
201 Statehouse
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Dear Secretary Rokita:
I am writing to ask you, as the chief election officer of the State of Indiana, to immediately investigate "Taxpayers 4 Truth," an organization that was formed to oppose Indianapolis Works, a plan to cut the size and the cost of government in Indianapolis-Marion County and save its taxpayers $35 million a year.
Yesterday, on March 30, 2005, State Rep. Michael Murphy of Indianapolis led a press conference at which he acknowledged that he was leading this "Taxpayers 4 Truth" organization and raising money to run radio and newspaper advertisements and participate in other opposition efforts. He also expressly stated
that his involvement in this organization was not a part of his responsibility as party Chairman, but as a state representative from the southside of Indianapolis.
There are four issues your office must investigate immediately:
1. Rep. Murphy is raising money during the legislative session, which is a violation of Indiana campaign law. Indiana Code 3-9-2-12 states that: "An individual who holds a legislative office" may not conduct fundraising activities during the legislative session. The only exception in the law is if the legislator is raising money for a "regular party committee" or if he or she is running for another office.
Rep. Murphy clearly is not raising money for general party functions, since his organization is not in the purview of his role as a party chairman. He also is not a candidate for another office. Therefore, Rep. Murphy, by raising money for "Taxpayers 4 Truth," is in clear violation of state law.
- Taxpayers 4 Truth is raising money and operating as a "political action committee" (PAC) without having filed requisite paperwork with the State of Indiana. There is no record that this organization has filed with your office as a PAC. Likewise, there is no record that this organization has filed with your office as an "issue advocacy organization" such as a 501(c)(4).
- There is no political disclaimer in a March 31, 2005 paid advertisement for this organization in the Indianapolis Star. Without a disclaimer on a paid advertisement, secrecy trumps public access to public information. The public has no possible way to determine the members of the organization, where it
raised its funds and whether the organization is following state law.
4. There is no political disclaimer on the organization's website. Without a disclaimer on the website, the public has no possible way to determine the members of the organization, where it raised its funds and whether the organizations is following state law.
These are serious potential violations of Indiana campaign laws by a sitting state representative, during a legislative session, and we believe they require immediate attention from your office.
The outspoken role you have taken this year with respect to ensuring the integrity of the election process leads us to believe that you will take these matters very seriously. We respectfully request that you, as the chief election officer of the State of Indiana, take action on these issues and immediately investigate the aforementioned "Taxpayers 4 Truth."
Sincerely,
Daniel J. Parker
Chairman, Indiana Democratic Party
cc: Indiana Election Commission
Speaker Brian Bosma
Indianapolis Star
WISH-TV
WRTV
WXNT radio
The hypocritical footnote to all of this is the Indiana GOP rode into power in the Governor's office and the State House of Representatives under a banner of cleaning up corruption in state government.
Like National Party like State Party?